Posts by Elizabeth

So promoting a book is like having a second job, but you don’t really get paid for it. Apologies to all my readers out there for leaving you stranded without posts for so long. Here’s something to tide you over, a little Junior Brown picking the hell out of his “guit steel” a combo electric/steel guitar.

Since it’s Labor Day weekend, I contemplated posting a song about work, but given how most of us spend the weekend, I thought this more appropriate. I hope all of you out there have your toes in some kind of water (ocean, river, lake or pool) and something cool in your hand to sip on.

Elvis Presley died today back in 1977. A sad day. Almost as sad as when your lover leaves you, as George Jones so perfectly captured in his 1988 hit “The King is Gone ( So are You). George passed away back in April and I like to think he and Elvis have found each other in the Great Beyond, snacking on peanut butter and banana sandwiches, sipping on whiskey and singing endless duets.

A well-made drink offers a variety of benefits. It can help you relax, appreciate your surroundings, forget your troubles and on occasion, inspire you to buy $275 of pork. Well, almost buy. As I wrote earlier, my boyfriend Lee and I recently took a jaunt to the Great smoky Mountains. We finished our excursion with a weekend in Asheville, NC, a town that knows how to eat and drink. There were so many places we wanted to try that in lieu of eating one dinner, we decided to go restaurant/bar hopping each of our two nights there, sipping and nibbling along the way. One of the stops on our first night was Seven Sows, a locale featuring many pleasures offered by the pig. We…

Korpiklaani is a Finnish metal folk band, and yes, you read that correctly. It’s the fiddle and accordion that keep it folk. Interestingly, they sing in English. Perhaps that is the language of metal? This post is a nod to yesterday’s post about vodka and to serve as a cultural counterbalance to last week’s song from La Traviata. You may want to turn down the sound on your computer. Or crank it up. It is Friday, after all.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that within the cocktail community, vodka is the current red-headed step child of booze. “It has no flavor; it’s not worth my time,” say the mustachioed, heavily tattooed, dictators of cool. Claire Smith, Brand Ambassador of the Polish vodka, Belvedere, has a thing or two to say to those who sneer at vodka as the drink for people who don’t want to taste what they are drinking. She notes “Vodka is the purest expression of its ingredients and should be as celebrated as such.” Claire acknowledges that the nature of vodka doesn’t always mesh with the current cocktail aesthetic, which tends to focus on big flavors. “It can be difficult spirit to work with, because it’s hard to…

Thought I’d class things up a bit this week with a duet from La Traviata. When I was an undergrad at LSU I worked on costumes for the Baton Rouge Opera company. One of the first shows I worked on was La Traviata and it holds a sweet spot in my heart. This song, which is all about how love improves with drinking, always make was want to sway and sing along . If you know how La Traviata ends, you can pick up the foreshadowing in the lyrics about how love is fleeting and flowers die (see the lyrics pasted below). But still, it’s nice to see the leads Alfredo and Violetta have a little fun together in Act I.

I totally dig this party scene and I laughed aloud at the lady at 1:35 who eats a whole plum just as Violetta comes by to toast her. Enjoy!

THE DRINKING SONG

Alfredo:

Let us drink from the goblets of joy
adorned with beauty,
and the fleeting hour shall be adorned
with pleasure.
Let us drink to the secret raptures
which love excites,
for this eye reigns supreme in my heart…
Let us drink, for with wine
love will enjoy yet more passionate kisses.

Violetta:

With you I can spend
the time with delight.
In life everything is folly
which does not bring pleasure.
Let us be happy, fleeting and rapid
is the delight of love;
it is a flower which blooms and dies,
which can no longer be enjoyed.
Let us be happy, fervent
and enticing words summon us.

Chorus:

(Be happy … wine and song
and laughter beautify the night;
let the new day find us in this paradise.)

Life is nothing but pleasure,
as long as one is not in love.
Don’t say that to one who is ignorant.
That is my fate …

Be happy … wine and song
and laughter beautify the night;
let the new day find us in this paradise.

About the Author

Elizabeth is New Orleans-based cocktail historian who loves writing about drinking culture across America. She also runs Drink & Learn, a weekly romp through the French Quarter featuring drinking and learning. She is also the co-author of the book The French Quarter Drinking Companion.

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